The book's conceit is that it is a fictionalized account of the private lives of some of the real-life queens in the NYC ball scene in the '70s and '80s, many of whom became gay-household names via Paris Is Burning.

This Ryan Murphy-style approach is executed in a very un-Ryan Murphy-like way, with a literary depth and an abundance of empathy over sensationalism. A good argument could be made that this was not Cassara's story to tell, but that argument could not be based upon the empathetic results of his endeavors.